We're one piece away, but no current player can be that piece . . .

[Gurleyman]

The worst defending champion theme is silly. Every time I see it come up (Gary Parrish, etc.), I'm just reminded that they'd certainly be saying that about Florida right now, if only we didn't screw ourselves by beating them.

We went for the foolish short term gratification (a title) instead of thinking about the long-term pr ramifications on the internet. It's this sort of 20th century thinking that has us in this bind.

 

[Mots010]

We had two great ball handlers last year and Louisville and SMU did the same exact thing as last night.

 

[Jaker]

We needed DD to stay one more season

 

[husky91]

I think Stone could be. Gets Facey off the court, which only improves the team and can compliment a hopefully improved Brimah. Assuming Adams is a stud day one and Purvis is more consistent.

 

[tennmike]

I agree that we desperately need another effective ball handler. RP, TSam and OC were frazzled 8' extended outside of the 3 point line. I also suggest that we need a big that can rebound, handle the ball and pass. Hell, SMU has a bunch of them and we have absolutely none.

 

[mauconnfan]

I think Stone could be. Gets Facey off the court, which only improves the team and can compliment a hopefully improved Brimah. Assuming Adams is a stud day one and Purvis is more consistent.

Problem was as you saw, we can not play a bigger, stronger team with multiple "actual" PF's with DHam as a PF. We saw that last night and the fact he played there and we had TSam out too much against a good team was a huge disadvantage which Larry took full advantage of as a good coach will.

 

[Cheeky]

We had two great ball handlers last year and Louisville and SMU did the same exact thing as last night.

Not the exact same thing, surely. Last year SMU beat us by 9 each time, and we didn't get thrashed.

Also, if I say that the problem with the car this summer is that we have a bad right tire and it causes the car to pull to the right, you responding with, "we had a good right tire last summer and the car pulled to the right then also" does not invalidate my point.

 

[Danzz]

Recruit over everyone except Hamilton, if that's even possible.

I stopped after reading the statement one piece. Can't see this teams problems as an isolation of one factor when there are so many current missing components. I would say a minimum of 4 pieces (5 when Ryan leaves) and that's being generous. No way of knowing one way or another if any of the current crop plus those coming in can develop into those pieces.

DHam has the potential to be a stretch four but not if he plays the type of defense we saw in this game. A lot of losing his player and inability to box out stronger 4s. DD and NG were much better in this department. However DHams does show the goods on offense.

AB gets lost in critical stretches. He's got bumbly hands, lacks instincts to play as part of a unit with the rest of the team, can't pull in rebounds. What he has done is develop a nice stroke on offense, works well with DHam on the alley oop and intimidates players with his blocking prowess. But he still gets easy fouls.

Kentan has the athleticism to be a good 4. But he makes Nolan look brilliant on defense.

TSam would be a decent point guard if he could hit shots anywheres besides two feet from the basket. It's not his dribbling that's the problem. It's his shooting limitations that teams scout and can play accordingly that limits his decent skills. Forces him into making bad passes that I believe would be corrected if he could hit 3s or pull up jumpers with some consistency.

OC is a poor man's RP.

And so on.

Tsam simply isn't quick enough with the ball or a good enough passer to get starters minutes at PG. He can improve his passing and decision making but quickness and ball handling are tough areas to improve upon at this stage.

 

[husky91]

I thought that is why T Sam plays? What would be the other reason, he can't shoot, his D is hugely overrated, he's a TO machine, etc.

I agree that we desperately need another effective ball handler. RP, TSam and OC were frazzled 8' extended outside of the 3 point line. I also suggest that we need a big that can rebound, handle the ball and pass. Hell, SMU has a bunch of them and we have absolutely none.

 

[3rdbass]

OP I don't think we will be as bad as you think. I do think TSAM and KF will improve next year. TSAM isn't a point guard by any stretch of the imagination but I think he knows he needs to work on his shot and I'm confident that will happen. KF will work on his muscle strength and post moves. Now guys like PN and OC I don't expect much change. RP has potential but not sure if the injury last year dumb his improvement.

We do actually need two things for next year. Another ball handler(Traci Carter) and a big man that has some strength inside. Maybe if we don't get Stone we can pick up a JUCO or 5th year player who can handle this role.

I also think KO has to learn to coach better and when to work the refs, better in game adjustments and change the lineup faster when things aren't working. He really lucked out last year with a bunch of upper classmen that were easier to coach due to dealing with JC and used to making in game adjustments. If Ollie fails next year I can see the following year be his make or break year here. We can't afford to have 4 bad seasons in a row at this critical time of our program.

 

[mauconnfan]

OP I don't think we will be as bad as you think. I do think TSAM and KF will improve next year. TSAM isn't a point guard by any stretch of the imagination but I think he knows he needs to work on his shot and I'm confident that will happen. KF will work on his muscle strength and post moves. Now guys like PN and OC I don't expect much change. RP has potential but not sure if the injury last year ed his improvement.

We do actually need two things for next year. Another ball handler(Traci Carter) and a big man that has some strength inside. Maybe if we don't get Stone we can pick up a JUCO or 5th year player who can handle this role.

I also think KO has to learn to coach better and when to work the refs, better in game adjustments and change the lineup faster when things aren't working. He really lucked out last year with a bunch of upper classmen that were easier to coach due to dealing with JC and used to making in game adjustments. If Ollie fails next year I can see the following year be his make or break year here. We can't afford to have 4 bad seasons in a row at this critical time of our program.

Agree with a lot here, great points. But you have to admit, the staff is trying to teach a few of these guys how to be better and I'm sure they always talk about where they need to improve. Sometimes you hit a wall and right now the Great Wall is in between Brimah and face in regards to learning form their own mistakes. Real good players would not be doing the same negative things time in time out. If you're not more worried about these 2 guys ability to catch on more than KO's ability to coach then I think you may be off. Both need to some things different, but these 2 bigs really need to start comprehending because for now it's a lot more frustrating for KO and the staff than even we can imagine I'm sure.

 

[Jaker]

We are at least 2 seasons and 3 players away from being good again.

 

[husky91]

D Ham will move to the 3, hopefully Facey and T Sam only play in garbage time

Problem was as you saw, we can not play a bigger, stronger team with multiple "actual" PF's with DHam as a PF. We saw that last night and the fact he played there and we had TSam out too much against a good team was a huge disadvantage which Larry took full advantage of as a good coach will.

 

[Matrim55]

This thread has brought out all the brightest lights in the "We're Doomed!" crowd. What a pleasure.

 

[mauconnfan]

D Ham will move to the 3, hopefully Facey and T Sam only play in garbage time

They are not garbage time players 91, not at all. Just not guys who should be playing 20 plus minutes at this point. To even think they are not capable of being a piece of the puzzle is ridiculous. Keep it real, they aren't great but they are the types of players JC needed on the bench to win also, let's not forget that.

 

[huskiesnyc]

We are at least 2 seasons and 3 players away from being good again.

I think we will be a lot better next year than people think. Brimah, Hamilton and Adams are all future NBA players and a few more solid pieces around them will help.

 

[SubbaBub]

Needs for next season:
A consistent outside threat, either a slasher who can get to the line and make them or a spot up shooter.

A 10 Reb a game guy

A low post defender

A guard who can create his own shot

A guard who can run the offense and set up others

A glue guy

A low post garbage man

Better team defense.

We don't have any of that right now.

AB and DH are playing like future NBA players and the other kid is in HS, but is likely not a future NBA player.

 

[FartMan69]

Don't understand how ball handling is the only missing piece when just last night I lost count of how many put backs and second chance points we gave up because we have ZERO players on this roster who box out.

 

[Jaker]

I think we will be a lot better next year than people think. Brimah, Hamilton and Adams are all future NBA players and a few more solid pieces around them will help.

we will still be very young at key positions, landing a good juco this year would help a lot.

 

[ctchamps]

Tsam simply isn't quick enough with the ball or a good enough passer to get starters minutes at PG. He can improve his passing and decision making but quickness and ball handling are tough areas to improve upon at this stage.

Agree that his passing is poor. Disagree with the quickness aspect. At the very least it's hard to determine particularly when people are playing 15 feet away from him when he's on the perimeter or when interior defenders are not afraid to leave our bigs who struggle to catch passes unless they are thrown a hundred feet into the air.

That sagging off of TS collapses the entire defense. Makes it difficult for RP and RB to drive. Essentially four on five. So KO brings in OC to extend the opposing teams defense. And what happens. You remove a decent defender in TSam with a poor defender in OC.

Take out DHam who struggled with defense and put in KF and what happens. Defense is just as bad, maybe worse, and the offense bogs down to a halt. And so on.

It may not sound like it but I'm not writing this team off for the future. Who knows if they can put it together by tournament time. It's hard to determine if these are skill and/or mental problems or whether these are inexperience issues. Players develop at different rates and teams sometime coalesce later as opposed to earlier.

 

[David 76]

We needed DD to stay one more season

And Bazz too.

 

[mauconnfan]

And Bazz too.

Greedy bast**d aren't you David? lol

 

[Candyman]

I agree with the OP on this. Ball handler is the main concern. We can deal with no true scoring big. We won 2 Chips without scoring bigs. Do we need another big, yes of course we do. We need rebounding more than a scorer downlow.


A 2nd ballhandler is a must, thats how this offesne works. Also couldnt agree more that if you arent a good ballhandler now, then your not going to get any better- that goes to TSam, Purv and Omar.

 

[itgoeslike]

UConn doesn't have enough proficiency in either the front court or back court to disrupt or temper the defense. Last year the perimeter featured a full contingent of legitimate shooters in Shabazz, Giffey, Daniels, Boat and Kromah. Having a balanced group on the perimeter created opportunities for each of them. Additionally, all of these players could drive to the basket. This aided our sub par front court to gain positioning they otherwise not have. Lastly, they all possessed years of experience: a fifth year senior, two seniors, and two juniors. Losing 4 of the 5 players mentioned above and expecting this year to replicate last year was always a stretch. This year's front court is undeniably better than last year's, but our perimeter shooting, driving ability and experience level (ball handling) doesn't come close. Additionally, without balance on the perimeter it often falls to a double-teamed Boat. This imbalance allows opposing teams to proportion their defense as they see fit.

The good news (and contrary to some posters) we do have talent and they will get better. We have a young team that, for the most part, are playing beyond their years: Freshman Hamilton, Sophomores Brimah and Facey, and RS Sophomores Purvis and Cassell. Next year we lose one very talented player but gain two top recruits, so on paper, we should be better. Of course, if we could land 1 talented big man it would help balance the back court and front court and free opportunities for our perimeter players. In lieu of an elite big man, what the team really needs is consistent perimeter shooting. One ball handler is not going to change things. If the shooting is still inconsistent, the defense will load up on the ball handler and we are back to square one. Additionally, if you have more balance on the perimeter it opens up spacing, which is more "forgiving" to marginal ball handlers. The offseason needs to be all about shooting (including free throws). With improved free throws, we can drive to the basket more and draw fouls that soften the defense inside. Even without another big man, our front court should be better than it is this year, which will help the overall composition of the team.

The realistic goal for the balance of the year should be to win 20+ games, win the AAC tourney, and see how deep we can go in the tournament. Anything more is pure gravy.

 

[mauconnfan]

UConn doesn't have enough proficiency in either the front court or back court to disrupt or temper the defense. Last year the perimeter featured a full contingent of legitimate shooters in Shabazz, Giffey, Daniels, Boat and Kromah. Having a balanced group on the perimeter created opportunities for each of them. Additionally, all of these players could drive to the basket. This aided our sub par front court to gain positioning they otherwise not have. Lastly, they all possessed years of experience: a fifth year senior, two seniors, and two juniors. Losing 4 of the 5 players mentioned above and expecting this year to replicate last year was always a stretch. This year's front court is undeniably better than last year's, but our perimeter shooting, driving ability and experience level (ball handling) doesn't come close. Additionally, without balance on the perimeter it often falls to a double-teamed Boat. This imbalance allows opposing teams to proportion their defense as they see fit.

The good news (and contrary to some posters) we do have talent and they will get better. We have a young team that, for the most part, are playing beyond their years: Freshman Hamilton, Sophomores Brimah and Facey, and RS Sophomores Purvis and Cassell. Next year we lose one very talented player but gain two top recruits, so on paper, we should be better. Of course, if we could land 1 talented big man it would help balance the back court and front court and free opportunities for our perimeter players. In lieu of big man, what the team really needs is consistent perimeter shooting. One ball handler is not going to change things. If the shooting is still inconsistent, the defense will load up on the ball handler and we are back to square one. Additionally, if you have more balance on the perimeter it opens up spacing, which is more "forgiving" to marginal ball handlers. The offseason needs to be all about shooting (including free throws). With improved free throws, we can drive to the basket more and draw fouls that soften the defense inside. Even without another big man, our front court should be better than it is this year, which will help the overall composition of the team.

The realistic goal for the balance of the year should be to win 20+ games, win the AAC tourney, and see how deep we can go in the tournament. Anything more is pure gravy.

Good points the only thing I will disagree with is this years front court being "undeniably better"? Not sure how it can be. While Deandre started slow he was 10X the threat and player Kentan face is. Because of that Amida as a raw freshman wasn't really required to provide more than he did. Also Nolan seemed to play better when needed. Add to that the fact the Niels was able to guard from the 2-5, and often was asked to guard the bigs while doing it quite well, they were much better in the front court last year I'm afraid.